Sermon February 25, 2007

Lent 1

Is there anyone here today who can honestly say that they have never, in their lives, faced some sort of temptation, no matter how small or insignificant? I very much doubt it!

And I'd hazard a guess - though I won't ask for a show of hands! - that anyone who's spent any time on this planet has faced some pretty serious temptation.

I think that's why the Gospel reading in particular resonates with us.

Anyone see the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ"? It was directed by Martin Scorsese - who is, for the sixth time, up for the Oscar this week. It was based on a book of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis, which proposed that the last, and greatest temptation of Jesus - on his way to "the Place of a Skull" - was to give up his foolish religious quest, and, instead, to go home, marry, have a family, and live a good and happy and long life.

In other words, it was the most seductive of temptations, because it seemed only to offer good things.

All he had to do was adjust his response to his calling.

But think, for a moment, of what that would mean. Either here, on his penultimate earthly journey to Golgotha, or in the story we hear today, the result of "just a few tweaks here, a minor modification there" is that Jesus' life is no longer about God's calling but his own desires, hopes, dreams.

The Temptations, in other words, aren't trivial.

Rather, they're so closely tied to the very essence of who Jesus was and what he was thinking about in this moment that only the most careful, discerning reflection can see the difference.

And, let's face it, it is that sort of temptation that's hardest to recognize, or to resist. If you found a million dollars in a bag on the street the moral dilemma's pretty clear. It's not difficult to recognize the appropriate course of action. Now, of course, some people would say that you should just "take the money and run". But we all recognize that the money is not ours, and while there might be some temptation to keep some of it any normal person is going to identify that temptation pretty easily.

It's the more subtle temptations that are the most dangerous, because they're the ones that blind-side us - evil masquerading as good.

In today's paper there's a report of how the central office of a sorority at De Pauw University in Greencastle IN was worried that its members weren't sufficiently committed to the goals of the local chapter - including adequately representing that sorority in the local community, recruiting new members, and engaging in charitable work as a representative. They interviewed all the members, then told two-thirds of them to leave, having given them failing grades in those areas.

The problem? All the women they asked to leave were overweight, or were racial minorities - Vietnamese and African American. Those who remained fit the modern stereotype of 'beautiful people' - including being svelte and white.

Noble goals subverted by human failings - discrimination robed in good intent - evil masquerading as good.

That's certainly what Jesus' threatened, as Luke reports it. Luke was clearly familiar with those wilderness places that still cover a great deal of the Holy Land. It's hot, and dry, and empty. Shade's hard to find, and so is water.

That's a foreign experience for most of us - though it isn't as far away as you might think. Our wildernesses today are every bit as real - the Alderwood Mall, or on the Internet are every bit as much a wilderness as the one Jesus encountered.

Those three temptations are ours as well.

• Turn stones to bread. Think of the incredible, abject poverty of First Century Israel, and here's a seductive solution for a man who cares so deeply about the poor. Who wouldn't want to end poverty, prevent famine in Africa. Each one of us from St. Augustine's who works in some way at Helping Hand can tell you such desperate stories that you would weep.
• Power in exchange for worship - enter the world of politics. Think of what you could do to combat evil in a world filled with slavery, war, oppression, disregard for life and rights.
• Leap from the pinnacle. This is really a challenge - its about being protected from suffering and harm. Wouldn't it be great if we could avoid pain?

All three temptations would - if Jesus had given in - replaced God's agenda with his own.

In the end that's our ultimate temptation also - to replace our agenda, our wills, our self-important beliefs that we know better than anyone else - or God.

Jesus' response is to re-state his identity. "My relationship with my Father is more important than any loaf of bread, or any worldly power. If I trust you I deny Him." Doesn't it sound like Joshua's words: "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord?"

So this week your invitation from the three "S's" - which are? ....Silence, Study, and Service....

• your invitation to silence is to find that desert place, that place of empty silence, and to reflect on the different ways that you are tempted to replace the call of God as we find it in the authentic community of faith with your own agenda.
• Study might be to read all the readings for today, including the collect and reflect on them.
• And the "service" part might be to find a way to do something that supports that vision of compassion for others that underpins all that Jesus did and stood for.

Amen.